Thursday, August 12, 2010

DIY: The Write Stuff part 1

Who knew everyone would get so excited about the DIY Stationary Set sneak peek from yesterday. Ok, I am excited too! We are going to start with the easiest part of the set: the Clothes Pin. This was so easy my kids even got in on the clothes pin transformation action.

I was able to score a pack of 50 clothes pins at Dollar General for $1. I think they run about $2.50 at Wal-Mart and may be a bit more sturdy. Yesterday I used coordinating cardstock for the clothes pins, but today I wanted something more fun! I checked out the local Family Dollar because I didn't feel like the drive to Wal-Mart, I was looking for cardstock but found something cheaper and fun: wrapping paper. At $1 a roll it was a great deal and will probably show up in many projects.
Here are the two that I decided were worthy:

Aren't they fun!

Step one is to trace your clothes pin onto the wrapping paper and then cut out the strips. Next, break out your handy dandy tub o' Mod Podge and apply a thin layer to the clothes pin. Carefully apply the paper strip. Repeat for the other side.
Ta da:

Now you can decide how you are going to use your new and improved clothes pin, as a magnet, or to hang things. If you go with a magnet add a dab of hot glue and then attach your magnet, you can find them in the craft section too. Pretend there is picture of a clothespin with a magnet on the back:

Thanks for playing along!

Another option is to use them to hang something such as Van Gogh like masterpieces like these:

This is the hall between my girl's rooms, we added some adhesive hooks (also from Dollar General, 4 in a pack for a buck) and some twine that we already had. This gives the girls room to hang a few of their masterpieces, we can rotate them easily. The girls can see how many they can hang up and understand that once the line is full they'll have to remove one to add another. Instead of twine you could use ribbon but I like the way the twine is a bit rustic and unfinished, I feel the same way sometimes so I relate to the twine.

Here is another looksy:

And a closeup of our hook and twine:

Isn't is great and simple! For all my teacher friends: I think this would be great in a classroom for younger kids if you have a big wall, or out in the hall. You could leave all the other teachers envious of your super cute clothes pins and ease of changing your kids art.